The author, Jane Nwaogu, is a Nigerian, of Igbo decent, a mother, a teacher and a healthcare worker. She was born and raised by Christian parents in an ambiance of love and peace, with strong faith in God and respect to humanity. She learned cultural, moral and ethical values through the parents' practical examples, teaching, support and direction. As a mother, she raised her children in the Igbo traditional environment and in multicultural cities. The author was also a classroom teacher and a high school principal. She communicated directly with children in the classroom and indirectly through their parents and guardians; offered academic counseling services to many children. The practical experiences with the children at home, in the classroom and during extra-curricula children's activities, and during healthcare services to children gave her the opportunity to appreciate the clean and innocent nature of children. The inputs the internal and the external environmental factors offer to children directly and indirectly impact their lives, their thoughts and their actions. As a healthcare worker, the author took care of the rich, the poor and the middle class patients. She worked in multicultural environments, experienced families in their homes, their natural settings, worked in the hospitals, nursing homes mainly for the elderly, in group homes for the physically and the mentally challenged and also worked in patients private homes. The author had interacted with many families through work experiences as a teacher, a healthcare worker and as a mother, and has read parenting books written by researchers and authors. Media messages and the daily observed attitudes of some parents and children equally offer a wealth of experiences. And, from all these experiences, she noted troubling current trends in many families in the areas of divorce, single parenting, having multiple sex partners, teen pregnancy, child abuse, neglect and abandonment, and drug and alcohol use both by adults and minors. For families and parents to keep their strong holds, and for children to benefit from parenting, parents and care givers must have 'eyes that see ' and 'ears that hear'; they must be humble so that families will not stumble.
